Spirit of Sheridan

Christopher Reynold’s splendid article about Sheridan, Wyo., and surrounding small towns captured the spirit of the area (“True West,” June 19).

I grew up in Buffalo, Wyo., 30-plus miles south of Sheridan. Legend has it that the Occidental Hotel in Buffalo was where the Virginian “got his man.” Owen Wister, author of “The Virginian,” stayed there briefly.

The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo has displays and artifacts of historical events of the area.

U.S. 16 from Buffalo to Yellowstone will take you past streams, lakes and wilderness areas over the Bighorn Mountains and through Tensleep Canyon. The scenery is breathtaking. There are campsites and hiking trails for real nature lovers.

BETTY N. KARANT, Rancho Palos Verdes

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I don’t want to put too fine an edge on it, but there is no Interstate 16 in Wyoming. Interstate 16 runs from Macon to Savannah, Ga. You may have meant U.S. Highway 16. However U.S. 16 does not run to or through Sheridan. U.S. 14 does run from Sheridan to Yellowstone. Good story though. I just hope Sheridan doesn’t “get discovered” like Bozeman, Livingston and others. Wyoming is a great vacation destination. There’s more to it than Yellowstone; the people are pretty friendly, too.

ROB STEVENS, Chino

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I read your article on my hometown, Sheridan, with a sense of dread that the very qualities that have preserved the quality of life there will be challenged and lost if it becomes the “new” destination for the burnt-out and disillusioned denizens of Aspen and Livingston.

Christopher Reynolds mentions the fine turn-of-the-century buildings that line Main Street, but Sheridan has not been spared the ticky-tacky modernization movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s that disfigured many of these fine facades. Readers should note the tacky “barn and shingle” modernization of King Saddlery in the photograph of Main Street. Mr. King should turn his eye for the past to the front of his business!

The Bradford Brinton Memorial is given much too little mention in your article. This museum presents the works of Edward Borein, Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, Joe de Yong, and countless other notable Western artists in the intimate setting of Mr. Brinton’s ranch home. The self-guided tour is a unique experience.

JAMES A. HARROD, Laguna Beach